H.I.G. Capital Enters into a Share Purchase Agreement Relating to the Sale of Zmarta Group

LONDON – July 6, 2016 – H.I.G. Capital has entered into a share purchase agreement with Bauer Media Group (“Bauer Media”), relating to the disposal of Zmarta Group (“Zmarta Group”, “Zmarta” or “Group”). Closing of the transaction is subject to the fulfilment of certain conditions including approval from the Swedish Financial Supervisory Authority and is estimated to occur in September / October 2016.

Zmarta is majority owned by an affiliate of H.I.G. European Capital Partners LLP (“H.I.G.”), the European private equity arm of H.I.G. Capital. Zmarta is a leading fintech marketplace in Northern Europe which offers a broad range of personal financial services to consumers including personal loans, insurance, credit cards and a recently launched Personal Finance Management app. To date, Zmarta has served over 1m customers and has a broad set of lender relationships, playing a critical role in offering transparency and the best value for consumers.

Together with H.I.G., Zmarta Group has created a strong platform, grown rapidly, entered new markets and launched new products since their 2013 acquisition. Zmarta, with over 15 years of experience in the Nordics, entered the German market in 2015 and will now benefit from the further support of Bauer Media to continue developing the company in all markets.

Carl Harring, Managing Director H.I.G. Capital and Board member of Zmarta, said, “Together with Zmarta’s talented management team, we have successfully created the pan-Nordic market leader. The company’s exceptional growth reflects our investments into leading technology and management’s ability to drive transformational change, adding new product lines and entering new markets, most recently Germany. This transaction, which was executed by H.I.G.’s London office, is a great example of H.I.G.’s value added approach and has resulted in a very successful outcome for the firm and its investors, yielding a return of more than 8 times our original investment.”

Bjorn Lander, CEO of Zmarta, said, “We would like to thank H.I.G. for their guidance and support to the management team, providing the necessary foundations to rapidly grow the business. We now look forward to working with Bauer Media Group, leveraging our past developments to take the business on its next stage of growth.”

Andreas Schoo, member of the Executive Board at Bauer Media Group, said, “From day one we have been very impressed with Zmarta Group and its management. This is an important acquisition for us and we are very happy to have reached an agreement with the current shareholders. We see strong synergies between Bauer Media and Zmarta Group, enabling us to accelerate growth together with the team at Zmarta.”

William Blair International, Limited is acting as exclusive financial adviser to H.I.G. and Zmarta.

About H.I.G. Capital
H.I.G. is a leading global alternative assets investment firm with €18 billion of equity capital under management.* Based in Miami, and with offices in New York, Boston, Chicago, Dallas, Los Angeles, San Francisco, and Atlanta in the U.S., as well as international affiliate offices in London, Hamburg, Madrid, Milan, Paris and Rio de Janeiro, H.I.G. specializes in providing both debt and equity capital to small and mid-sized companies, utilizing a flexible and operationally focused/ value-added approach:

H.I.G. Capital’s equity funds invest in management buyouts, recapitalisations and corporate carve-outs of both profitable as well as underperforming manufacturing and service businesses

H.I.G. Capital’s debt funds invest in senior, unitranche and junior debt financing to companies across the size spectrum, both on a primary (direct origination) basis, as well as in the secondary markets. H.I.G. is also a leading CLO manager, through its WhiteHorse family of vehicles, and manages a publicly traded BDC, WhiteHorse Finance

Since its founding in 1993, H.I.G. has invested in and managed more than 200 companies worldwide. The firm's current portfolio includes more than 100 companies with combined sales in excess of €22 billion. For more information, please refer to the H.I.G. website at www.higcapital.com.

About Bauer
Bauer Media Group is one of the world’s most successful media corporations. Over 600 magazines, more than 400 digital products and over 100 radio and TV stations are enjoyed by millions of people across the globe. The corporate portfolio also includes print shops, postal, sales and marketing services. Bauer Media Group’s global positioning underscores its passion for people and brands. We see ourselves as the home of popular media, as illustrated by our strapline "We think popular." – a claim which inspires and motivates our global workforce of some 11,500 employees in 20 countries. http://www.bauermedia.com/en/

About Zmarta
Zmarta Group offers a range of services within consumer finance. The group is comprised of a range of brands including Zmarta, Freedom Finance and Centum. The company was founded in 1999, has 200 employees and offices in Stockholm, Ängelholm, Helsinki, Oslo and Munich.

* Based on total capital commitments managed by H.I.G. Capital and affiliates.